


Philophobia

by Just_NB_Desy



Series: Words, Pages and Pages of Words [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Lazy Afternoon, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Realization, shadow is absolutely smitten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23197810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_NB_Desy/pseuds/Just_NB_Desy
Summary: Shadow finds the hero of Mobius lying in a field on a sunday afternoon. The agent discovers something that afternoon.Philophobia: the fear of emotional attachment or fear of falling in love.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: Words, Pages and Pages of Words [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667785
Comments: 14
Kudos: 198





	Philophobia

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic in a series that will consist of many adventures, each one exploring the vibe or meaning of different words. Some of the words will be english, like this one, or will be foreign, untranslatable words.

Sonic has a reputation of being restless and impatient. That’s true. But not all the time. He enjoys taking life slow. Soaking in every moment he’s given. There’s too much to love to only ever live in the fast lane. Today is one of those days where he just wants to lay in the grass with the sun pouring down on him, the breeze visiting every so often to brush into his fur. 

If he were to fall asleep, he wouldn’t mind too much. Tails knows he’s in this mood and isn’t expecting him at the workshop anytime soon. The blue blur smiles, his eyes closed, as he settles deeper into the grass. Absolutely in bliss of the tranquil moment. 

Until he feels a shadow block his face from the sunlight. Suppressing as much of his grimace as he can, he breathes through his nose before opening his eyes. 

He finds that the shadow is actually Shadow. He’s not as annoyed anymore that his moment of solitude was disturbed. The other is staring down at him with a blank expression, but Sonic is able to see that the corner of his lips sit slightly tilted and the ridge of one of his brows almost quirked. The subtlety of the differences almost so minute that the hero knows that not many people can catch it. It took the blue hedgehog months to learn the mannerisms and tells of the other. 

“Faker, are you injured?”

“Nope.” The hero pops the ‘p’ as he closes his eyes once more to relax. 

“Are you ill?”

“Nah.” 

“...” Shadow becomes even more confused. “Then what are you doing?”

“I /was/ soaking in some sunlight. Almost fell asleep actually.” 

“Did you not sleep last night?”

“I did. It’s called slowing down to take in life. You should try it sometime, Mr. Ultimate Life Form.”

The dark agent looks around. He does find the possible solitude of the activity to be tempting. He takes the hero’s words as an invitation and lies down, his head a few inches from the other. He stares at the open sky, beds of clouds passing the planet leisurely. Occasionally a few leaves blow past his vision in the wind, the grass brushing against him as the breeze moves. Sonic’s presence is calming and silent, which, while it’s… strange, is also quite enjoyable. That the guy who is always so hyperactive, loud, and just down right itching for constant movement is doing nothing on a Sunday afternoon. 

It takes everything in Shadow not to smile. Whether it’s the peaceful moment or the calming hero, he doesn’t know; and honestly at this point, he’s almost afraid to let himself question it. 

“Hey Shads.”

The hero’s voice almost startles Shadow through the silence. “What.”

“Would you like to go on a run with me?” The blue hedgehog rolls over onto his elbows to look at the other. “It doesn’t have to be a race if you don’t want it to be. I just know this road that leads to a place I think you might like.” 

“I’m not doing anything else.” Shadow gives a smirk. “Besides, I’d like to see what you’d think will have me impressed.” 

Sonic smiles and it takes the agent's breath away. “It’s a date then.” The hero stands and offers the other a hand. “Come on, we can go now.” 

Shadow grumbles something under his breath about how he doesn’t need the other’s help. But he accepts the hand offered to him, which only makes the hero smile wider. 

The blue hedgehog begins to run at a leisurely pace and the agent keeps up next to him. 

The slower than usual pace gives him a chance to take his surroundings in rather than just hurriedly rushing past to get to his destination. The road Sonic has them run on is one of smooth pavement that has few cracks and potholes, much easier for a steady run. The leaves on the trees are an array of different colours, the autumn settling in with it’s warmer tones. Shadow never knew that some leaves could turn purple. His eyes are drawn to the other hedgehog, his blue fur and quills greatly contrasting with that of the forests’ hotter colours. 

The hero’s eyes are closed and a smile sits on his lips, his face pushing against the wind as if to playfully challenge it. He looks like he’s done this a thousand times, and has loved each and every one of them. 

The hero opens his eyes to look at the other, laughing as they make eye contact. Shadow has to hold himself back from visibly gulping. The liveliness and delight illuminating his eyes, the contrast of them against the autumn afternoon drawing Shadow in. It’s so intoxicating, Shadow feels his breath hitch before he lets himself smile, genuinely. 

Sonic’s own smile grows as he speeds up slightly. Shadow matches his dial up and Sonic does it again, a silent challenge hanging between them. Shadow finally picks up on it and begins to go faster. Sonic races to catch up. 

The two laugh as they keep passing one another, the road curving and hugging to the side of the mountain. Rings made of stone occasionally stretch over the highway. Shadow looks ahead to see a solid wall of rock with a single tunnel to the otherside. His nerves calm as he sees the other hedgehog race ahead of him. 

Once on the other side, Shadow has to blink a few times to let his eyes readjust to the light again after the darkness of the tunnel. The dark agent stares in awe of the change in scenery. A river runs next to the road, a waterfall from higher up the mountain crashing into it before falling once again further down the slope. The road curves close to the mountain before turning back out, allowing Sonic to be planted across from him. The hero has slowed down a bit now that he has the lead. The only things Shadow can hear is the crashing of the waterfall and his own heartbeat, the latter speeding up as he stares at the laugh that is falling from his lips and the carefree expression on his face. He’s so relaxed. Shadow feels his heart drop. He’s realized something. 

The duo reach a cliff near the summit. It overlooks everything for miles around. Beauty of all types sketched into the land. Below, Shadow can see the winding road they ran up. Much farther out, he sees towns scattered and an interstate that cuts straight through everything; all the fields and forests, rivers and rocky meadows. It slices so deeply, it looks like the people in a hurry are missing all of it. 

“Upsetting, isn’t it?” Sonic’s voice travels to Shadow’s ears. “As if they don’t even know.” 

“Yeah.” Shadow sneaks a peek at the other through the corner of his vision. 

The hero stares down at the interstate with an almost pitiful look on his face. “I don’t think I’d be able to do it.” 

Shadow turns his attention to the other at that. “Do what?” 

“Live a life never taking everything in. Speeding past it all til the day I die.”

The dark agent huffs with a small smile. “Ironic coming from the supposed fastest thing alive.” 

A moment of silence passes in the wind before Shadow speaks again. “But, you’re right. There’s too much of this planet and too little time in life not to take advantage of what you have now.” Shadow bites back his own hypocrisy. Out of all the scenery he’s seen, this one is the most beautiful. The hedgehog standing right before him, taking in a moment before his next adventure. He’s gorgeous. But he pushes his feelings away, knowing very well what’s happening. 

He’s falling in love with the hero. Slowly. Blissfully. With every smile, every laugh, every glance, every look, every moment. 

He is falling slowly and it scares the living shit out of him.

**Author's Note:**

> I am quite upset that I could not find a word that means ‘the realization that one is falling in love slowly’. I scoured the internet superhighway for such a word but could not find it. I anger. 
> 
> I did come across this one German word though. Backpfeifengesicht. Means ‘a face badly in need of a fist’ and I think that's fuckin beautiful.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Lemme know your thoughts in the comments below. I'll see you guys in the next fic. 
> 
> Philophobia: the fear of emotional attachment or fear of falling in love. 
> 
> x


End file.
